Solar company from Spain opens in S.F.

Energy

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

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SAN FRANCISCO - AUGUST 12: Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco speaks at a news conference to announce a new jobs initiative August 12, 2009 at the One Stop Career Link Employment Center in San Francisco, California. The ''Jobs Now'' initiative aims to employ 1,000 San Franciscans using $25 million in federal stimulus funds. The program is designed specifically for unemployed individuals with an income of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level and with at least one child. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) less

SAN FRANCISCO - AUGUST 12: Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco speaks at a news conference to announce a new jobs initiative August 12, 2009 at the One Stop Career Link Employment Center in San Francisco, ... more

Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Solar company from Spain opens in S.F.

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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday welcomed the latest green-tech business to the city, a Spanish solar power company that has established its North American headquarters here.

Fotowatio builds and runs large solar installations in Europe and, more recently, the United States. In March, the company bought a local firm, MMA Renewable Ventures, and has decided to use the old MMA office on Montgomery Street as its North American headquarters.

That fits with Newsom's goal of attracting green businesses to the city.

Newsom has tried to lure alternative-energy companies from other states and countries, using tax breaks and California's ambitious renewable power policies as selling points. Fotowatio doesn't exactly count as a newcomer, but its decision to use San Francisco as its U.S. base preserves 50 green jobs and should lead to more, Newsom said.

"It's an area where our economy is growing, not contracting," he said. "We are really, arguably, becoming a world leader - not just a regional leader - in green tech."

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San Francisco offers biotech and green-tech companies a temporary exemption from the city's payroll tax. Fotowatio President Jose Benjumea, who joined Newsom for a City Hall news conference on Tuesday, said the tax break helped seal the deal. So did the sheer size of California's renewable power market.

"The business is in California," Benjumea said. "Then, San Francisco has some very good tax incentives that will really help us to be more competitive. And also, the talent here is huge."

The company has developed enough solar power projects, in the United States and Europe, to generate 130 megawatts of electricity. A megawatt is enough to power 750 homes at any given moment.

In the United Stated, the company operates under the name Fotowatio Renewable Ventures. Some of the company's most notable projects were originally developed by MMA. Those include a 2-megawatt solar installation at Denver International Airport and a 14-megawatt system at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

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